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My $200 Laptop Can Beat Your $500 Tablet
Roblimo writes "Yes, we know tablets like the iPad are the wave of the future and that PCs and laptops are dead. But some of us see tablets as laptops with their keyboards missing and a few hundred bucks tacked onto the price."
> My $200 Laptop Can Beat Your $500 Table
But my table is good for holding food at dinners. Can your laptop do that?
Yes, but I can't rest my feet on a laptop, like I can my table.
Anyway, the cost of the device is hardly relevant. Aside from portability, the real differences are consuming versus creating. So far, tablets are basically giant consumption devices. Listen to music, read books, watch videos, visit other people's websites. Not so much made for creating (unless the limit of creating, your case, is writing blog updates).
It's kind of like comparing a television with a video camera.
My greasy fingerprints all over the goddamn screen.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
FTA:
Everywhere I go these days, my friends slam laptops. They tell me my PC of choice is a dying breed and sing the praises of their new, "post-PC" Apple iPad.
Is it me or does it sound like the writer's friends are just trend-happy followers? I'm around a lot of tech people and I don't know of anyone who crow about how much tablets are going to completely displace PCs or laptops or desktops. I think for most people, the tablet is a nice toy with interesting specific applications, but it's not a replacement for anything. Same thing with all the people who said netbooks were going to displace laptops a few years ago, and the people who said laptops will destroy desktops a few years before that. Didn't happen then, won't happen now.
Maybe the writer should find less trend-whorey friends.
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
Repeat after me:
The iPad is a tablet, but not all tablets are iPads.
I own an Android tablet with USB host functionality (2 ports, weep old macbook air users!), which is sold for $99, has multitasking, can use a keyboard, does not use iTunes and supports SD cards.
Granted, I would never write an essay on it, but tablets are not meant to be user as PC replacements: They are information retrieval devices, not data entry ones.
Tablets (the separate species from TabletPCs) are meant to be take-anywhere devices. That iPod or Android phone in your pocket? That's a tablet.
It isn't meant to be the device that you rely on to do your heavy work. It is a portal device, to get you to important data immediately, wherever you are.
Spock doesn't use a tricorder tablet because it has a million features and CPU to spare. He uses it because it is handy and can connect to the Millenium Falcon when it needs to perform more CPU-intensive calculations.
If you think your laptop is better, then that's great for you. But the fact of the matter is that you have simply been left behind technologically. You are a relic.
The future is convertible laptops. Mark my words.
Wow, if someone ever tried that I'm sure it would change the entire industry!
Hint: The reason why tablets are popular is not because of their features. It's because you can carry the damn things around with you without your arm falling off. Slapping a tablet screen on a notebook does not fix this problem.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
Actually as I look down at the keyboard, my laptop has a surprising amount of food on it. I see crumbs from my bagle yesterday morning. I see a little shmear of dried egg on the shift key. And I think that may be some hardened mozzarella cheese on the corner of the trackpad.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Article makes several good points, but a lot of the problems it mentions are leveled at the iPad specifically and not tablets in general. Non-apple tablets could easily not have these problems.
Personally, I'd like something where you can just plug the tablet into a docking station that has a keyboard and mouse setup, maybe even a larger monitor, and just pull it out when you need to go portable. Although that doesn't take care of the problem where tablets will be forever less powerful than desktops.
Technoli
Please tag this story as flamebait because that's what the TFA is.
1% APY, No fees, Online Bank https://captl1.co/2uIErYq Don't let your $$$ sit in a no-interest acct.
Modern notebooks/netbooks weigh very little. If you put a fancier hinge and a touchscreen layer on a Macbook Air's screen, how much heavier would that make it? Don't forget, almost all laptops use li-ion batteries instead of the much lighter and more space-efficient li-pos.
The big question is whether it will be a PC-like laptop running a desktop OS, or an Atrix-4G like device, basically a convertible laptop body for a phone, running a less functional OS. It could go either way. Assuming this walled garden fad wears off soon (every walled garden in the history of general-purpose computing has failed so far), I'd say it'll be an Atrix-like device, otherwise it will be a PC-like device. Either way it won't weigh significantly more than a tablet and will be far more useful.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
IMO both devices are far, far more suitable than tablets for any kind of text input, e.g. lectures, writing emails, essays, slashdot comments. Of course the price might be prohibitive when they launch but we'll see.
That's the biggest issue with tablets at the moment - they cost too damned much money. It really is a ripoff. A tablet should be the same price as a netbook, but manufacturers are still in greed mode. They see Apple commanding stupid premiums for their device and they "compete" by pricing their devices similarly. There is absolutely no reason a decent tablet shouldn't cost $300 or less. There are already a few examples (e.g. Advent Vega is a Tegra 2 10" tablet for £250) but the brand names are still too expensive. Hopefully when the market is flooded with Android 3.0 devices the prices will become a bit more reasonable and competitive.
Sure - if I push a button on it, a cup holder even pops out!
A. A Laptop's CD and DVD Player/Burner: If you're into permanently saving photos, music, or movies
Wireless connectivity allows me to store my music, photos and such, on a machine which I won't lose. The chance that I will need all my music, those movies, or that photo, are to be considered, but many of us know what we reference daily. I would rather have a home full of things I need now than a home full of clutter I think I might need and never access. Tell me this, how many have look at last used dates on many items on your notebook? It might surprise you.
B. A Laptop's Keyboard: Most iPad users readily admit it's difficult to type anything that is data intensive on the touch keyboard that appears on the screen.
OK, but given time you learn to adapt. I find just as many people complain "you will never be happy with a notebooks keyboard" as I see with tablets. Well I can get a nice clamshell case with a bluetooth keyboard built it. Tablets are not meant to replace home computers for development and large work, the Apps just are not there. However they are great for taking what you need in a small footprint.
C) The Storage Available on a Laptop:If you want to download and store tons of decent-quality movies,
Which in point A I stated, go check when you last viewed/listened to the majority of it. Then scroll back to see what you used in the last year. You will be surprised. I have over 20g in music and guess how much I listen too. I have the 32g iPad of which I haven't used half. Why? Because its like packing a car. I am taking what I know I will use and then tossing in small things here and there. I guess for some being lazy and taking it all is a great method but you never rid yourself of the clutter if you do. Fact is, we keep to much crap on our computers because its easier than cleaning it up
D) A Laptop's Ports: No USB port on an iPad? Sure there are pricey adapters, but what if you want to plug in a mouse, digital camera, and/or printer?
My printer is wireless. I have an adapter for HDMI, SD cards, and USB cables, which btw I haven't used every day. I don't need a mouse with a touch screen and wireless eliminates most ports anyway
E)Apple iPad 2Apple iPad 2The iPad Doesn't Have Multitasking: So I can't listen to sports talk radio online, check to see if little Charlie has bitten anyone else's finger, and type my blog, all at the same time? This versatility is why we love mobile computers. This fact alone will always keep me using a laptop.
False. I load a VPN connection and close the app to load something else and yet my VPN is still running. How is that? Is that not multitasking? I have loaded a work app and bounced between it and my webbrowser which by the way was showing the weather an it updated in the background. I guess by multitasking you meanm you cannot have a bunch of windows open all at once of which your are using ONE AND ONLY ONE AT THIS EXACT MOMENT. Many Apps that you invoke keep background services running, that is multitasking. Don't confuse that with having many windows open.
F) The IPad Is Confined by the Limits of iTunes: Jared Newman, a PCWorld blogger, summed it up: "
And it gets updated all the time. We don't know what new features we will get. As it stands now, after I first setup my iPad with iTunes I have never used iTunes since as I have never connected my iPad back to my Mac. I get documents, Apps, and the like, all over the wireless connection. I could care less what iTunes is not doing. As long as I have the Apps I need to do the work I want to do I could care less about your perceived limitations because they aren't mine.
G) The iPad's Battery Isn't Replacable: I know the iPad has respectable battery life, but if you need to work on a long plane ride and in a café with no available power outlets, I feel you'll need excellent battery life and a back-up cell that installs easily.
This one is even more laughable. Sorry, but spending 10 hours at the cafe ain't exactly what I call a winning strategy ever
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Can't say if a tablet is "better", or just different.
But I can say when I travel on business, the last few times I've brought both my iPad and my laptop. My laptop largely sits in the laptop bag just in case I need it (though the last two trips I haven't so it's been dead weight). I use my iPad in airports, hotel lobbies, restaurants, my hotel room, in my recliner, laying down on the sofa ... all sorts of places I don't use my laptop. Both because my laptop is much bulkier and awkward, and for security reasons, my company has disabled wireless. I just find the iPad to be more convenient.
I couldn't replace my work laptop with an iPad, but I do use my iPad differently ... and when I'm travelling, far more often. To me, the two form factors have entirely different usage patterns. A tablet may not be for everybody, but for those of us with one, it's hard to imagine not having one.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I don't see why everyone keeps comparing the two. A laptop and tablets like the iPad are simply not in the same market. Yes there is some overlap in use, but there's overlap between a laptop and my cell phone these days. If you want to get pedantic about it there's overlap between my laptop and the dvd player sitting on the shelf across the room. It doesn't put them into the same market at all. Why is it that everyone is still trying to make it as if it's exclusive, you can have one, or the other?
um Apple is kicking the crap out of every manufacture on price and you call them greedy? When apple first annouced the price of the ipad every other CEO shit bricks as they were expecting a $1000 price tag from apple and they would be in a good position to undercut on price.
No one can touch Apple's price points because the factories don't yet exist. In 5 years they will be lower, but it takes time to retool factories.
maybe you should learn something about economics, before mouthing off what things "should cost" you have no clue.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
So what can your $200 laptop beat my $500 tablet at?
Web surfing? I don't know, the tablet interface with it's ability to just click, rescale, scroll and everything without having to use a mouse is quite an upgrade personally.
Gaming? You mean, you have a $200 laptop with a good graphics card in it? I'm pretty sure an iPad 2 or Tegra 2 powered tablet could blow the socks off your $200 intel integrated graphics card.
Size? I think the tablet's gonna win, unless you attached a brick to the back of it. 1/4"-1/2" thick tablet wins every time. Especially when I'm in a cramped coach seat flying for 6 hours and can't open the laptop up all the way because the screen hits the seat in front of me.
Battery Life? We're talking about a $200 laptop here... not a netbook. And even then try getting 10 hours of good use out of a netbook or laptop.
And who makes a New, powerful $200 laptop in the first place?
Face it, There are cases for each item. They're not meant for the same tasks. We're trying to compare apples and oranges here and I'm starting to get tired of it. Although, I will say that I got a tablet because I don't want to have to take care of another laptop. the tablet just works for what I need, I have a perfectly powerful PC in my home office I can use if I want to do anything I need it for... and if I'm just doing simple things like web browsing, facebooking, some gaming, youtubing, etc the tablet works perfectly. (and if I felt like it, I could sync my keyboard to it or use a stylus to do text input.)
-=JML=-
Define 'useful'. And, for that matter, define 'bells and whistles' since I'm not sure my iPad has anything I'd call that.
I'm not going to use my tablet to code on, or to write a technical document or create visio diagrams, that's true.
But, for getting into a more comfortable chair, or sitting in the back-yard or the hammock at my parents place, or at the hotel bar or in the airport ... I actually find the form factor to be usable in a lot of circumstances where I wouldn't want a laptop. For me a laptop is mostly something I put on a desk and use it like a desktop.
I can sit in a comfortable chair in the hotel lobby, cross my legs or slouch in my chair and still check my email in several different accounts, check the news, and maybe play sudoku or Pocket Frogs or something. It's used more for consuming content than doing anything like my professional work. But it's become something I get quite a lot of use out of, and on business trips I use it far more often than my laptop (which I still drag around with me).
To me, they're very different devices, and used very differently.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
About once a year I just take my Model M, hold it upside-down, and give it a vigorous shaking. Of course, I have to vacuum afterwards, but still... canned air is a waste.
Yeah, the keys still have more dried food stuck to them than the floor at Burger King, but that just adds more tactile response for my fingers, not to mention added security from people not wanting to touch it. It's a feature.
A long time ago when getting prepared for hiking at Philmont someone told me "By the end of the day an ounce will feel like a pound."
At first, we laughed at the nuts who cut the handles down on their toothbrushes. After a week we wished we had done so as well.
A a few pounds difference may not be noticeable during your basement to kitchen table commute but for others ounces can make it more comfortable to carry.
If you think that a tablet is something that just gets "lugged" from place to place, you're unclear on the concept.
A tablet is to a notebook what a paperback novel is to a hardcover book. One stays in your hand as you travel around, the other is ported from one reading spot to another. Sure, you can easily carry around a large hardcover, but try reading it with one arm outstretched and I guarantee you'll be in pain before long.
And for perspective, the iPad weighs as much as some softcover bibles. The average 13" notebook weighs as much as a hardcover copy of War and Peace.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
And the thing is, that "$200 laptop" was certainly not a $200 laptop when it started its life. He bought it used on Craigslist.
If you read TFA, his reasons for liking it have to do with the *expandability* of the laptop versus the tablet: ports, dvd drive, more internal storage, replaceable battery. And if somebody else hadn't purchased it first, then resold it when they bought something new, he'd be spending a LOT more on a Thinkpad than he would on an iPad or a Xoom.
Looking at the specs on a Thinkpad X30, it's a 5-6 year old computer, and in terms of performance, I'd expect an iPad 2 or a Xoom to keep up with it just fine, performance-wise.
For some non-zero use cases, the Apple iPad is the best available device. So long as this remains non-zero, some people will be buying it for those uses.
But the far more interesting question is, "Why does it matter if they just want it, rather than need it?". If there were limited supply, and owning one meant taking it away from someone who needed it, I could see your point.
And as far as your comment goes about paying anything for Apple products, so what? Apple attracts not just people who are attracted to the design, but also those who need a reliable piece of tech to fulfill a need. That's why it's news whenever there's a problem, it's unusual. It's not a news article when another commodity PC craps out, or when Windows bluescreens or reboots, but in the Apple world it's news. Until Apple products become as virus-prone, until the user experience drops to the non-Apple level, until the hardware becomes as troublesome as the rest of the market, Apple will remain on top. Some of us will pay for that.